unknownseas | hey mom, dead mom, i need a little help here

hey mom, dead mom, i need a little help here

[ ...All of that happened, huh. That's the sentiment each and every week, and it's no different this time. Except, this time they've lost more people than before. Five.

The gathering invitation is slipped under everyone's doors, but it specifies something a little different. ]

[ That's a good two hours or so of difference. Enough time to wander around, for sure.

But, in the garden, at the appointed time, there's a variable arrangement of fresh-cooked food. A good amount of beef stew, some Chinese hot pot, and...watermelon? Just, an absurd amount of watermelon, cut up and set on plates. All the food's set on tables that seem to have been moved from the library, and the ground is littered with blankets, for those who don't want to sit on the grass.

And yes, she did not lie. There is, indeed, a variable fuckton of alcohol. (And coffee, for our underaged.)

This has become routine. But, we're still here. We're still alive. ]

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I mean, that's a more grounded assumption to make, but think about it. Rhea said today that poisons don't work on her. That's just a roundabout way of saying she's immune to chemically-induced altered states. If it were just the Professor gassing us through the vents, it wouldn't have affected her, never mind... You know.

[ Jasper. Rose. ]

So that leaves us to consider other options. With what we already know he can do, a stasis field or something like that seems downright unimpressive in comparison.

I'll take your word for it, since I don't know what that even is. But we also know someone's messed with Angel's memories in a way that made her much easier for the Professor to control.

...You know, Therion. Suggesting that we have our minds tampered with every week opens a lot of doors that I'm not sure I want to explore.

That's my job. Opening things no one wants opened.

Okay, let's say you're on to something, then.

How do we know that any of our memories are real, in that case? Or at least that ours haven't been tampered with by the Professor, to make us more viable as test subjects?

We don't. They're all we can rely on until we find something that holds water, though. It's why I don't ask questions like this at the meetings; don't need everyone wandering around questioning the reality of this place. Not when getting it wrong could kill us all.

Still... apparently, we were "processed" for a while before we were brought here. How do we account for that time? Were we out for all of it? And has he really been observing us so closely--for years, it seems--to craft such personalized executions for our killers? To threaten us each week? Or did we tell him ourselves.

[ But he'll say it to her, personally. Maybe that says something, but the fact that it might is exactly why Rin doesn't point it out. ]

That's a good point. The ability to pull us from our separate timelines doesn't necessarily imply the ability to observe them, after all. But... On the other hand, the ability to alter or remove specific memories does imply the ability to know what's being targeted. We might not have needed to tell him anything, if he spent that processing time watching our lives through our own eyes.

Hey, did Birkin talk to you about this last week's incentive? About how it worked, I mean.

Birkin? No. Why?

He told me that the motives we got are just a projection, based on our lives up to this point. There's no reason for that to be the case unless the Professor can't actually check, right?

[That deserves some thinking over. Eventually, he nods.]

I guess it makes sense. Could he do that? With the pictures--the photos? He can just make those up?

[ Rin nods. ]

Imaging technology like that exists in my world, and it's not exactly a new thing. Even without accounting for all the crazy technology he's gotten his hands on, spoofing a photograph wouldn't be hard.

...Would that work for things that move, too? Like the movies everyone's been watching?

[More importantly, like the executions?]

Ema already told me about voice changers.

[No wonder Therion questions everything, so much can be made up in these "modern" worlds.]

That's harder, but still doable. It helps that with the way the human brain works, we'll fill in what we think we should be seeing, even if it's a little bit off.

[ Just wait until Rin tells him about virtual reality! ]

[Does she want to break his li'l brain?]

--Sure. Yeah, I get it. Never thought of it like that, but that's how I manage a lot of my work, too.

It's actually kind of a problem, where I come from. If you can invent footage that's indistinguishable from the real thing, you can make "reality" whatever you want.

[ #cyberpunk dystopia problems ]

But we're getting off-topic now. The point is, if the photos we got this week are a projection, that throws the authenticity of everything else into question, too.

[He nods.]

So you agree with Birkin about that. That he's just guessing, basically.

Edited 2020-05-18 21:55 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that was a clarification he got from Angel, actually. If you want to double-check, you can ask either one of them.

[He lets out a harsh breath.]

Then they died--

[At least he stops himself before he finishes the sentence. He doesn't bother amending it to something else. He just pulls his scarf up a little and looks away.]

[ Oh. Yeah.

Rin hesitates, and when she answers him, there's a cautious edge to her tone. She doesn't know much of anything about... comforting people. ]

...It's like what Della said last week, and how Clarke felt about it. If what we saw is the most likely outcome, even if there's still a chance it won't come true... They still might have thought it was worth killing for.

[That's fine. He doesn't know much of anything about being comforted. Therion closes his eyes and breathes out.]

...You're right. It doesn't change much in the end. It's only that... [Uggghhh. He rubs at the inner corners of his eyes like he has a headache.] I talked to both of them this week. Anna and Rhea. Thought maybe I got somewhere with them, too. Guess it just wasn't enough.

I get it, but there's no helping some people.

[ ... ]

I would talk with Fugo—with Anna, too. But I didn't this week, and definitely not after the Professor gave us our motive. And it's... It's easy for me to stand here and think, if only I'd just talked to her one more time. If only I'd tried just a little harder to convince her that her stupid GRANBELM didn't matter. But, I...

I did talk to her. I did try to show her there were other ways forward. I gave her my hand, and she didn't take it. You tried, but you can't fix what's wrong with someone when they won't let you.

[ So maybe Rin has some feelings she needs to work through, too. It's fine! ]

I know.

[He's quick to say that--maybe a little too quick--but Anna isn't just a fresh wound. She struck a blow against all those old hurts that never healed right, that had already begun to crack and bleed as this place twisted at him.

Couldn't he have said the same thing, just four weeks ago? '...Because if I didn't throw them away, they'd betray me too!' When did that change? What started it? How many hands was he given, and whose didn't he take?

After giving himself a moment, he lets out a small, wry chuckle and meets Rin's gaze again.]

Damn. Look at us. You didn't mean to get attached, either, did you? But here we are.

Of course I didn't. [ She makes it sound like a stupid question, and her face colors. ] But this isn't Anna's GRANBELM. [ My Holy Grail War, she means, but everyone she's spoken to about that is already gone. ] There's no reason that trusting someone here should be like asking for a knife in the back. The only reason it is is because people keep refusing to take each other's hands.

[ ... ]

God, I sound like an idiot right now. But we've always had a better chance of getting out of here together than we did separately, and... Maybe trusting someone without caring about them is a lot to ask for.

[She does sound like an idiot, a little. At least to Therion. But he can't say anything about it, because he's been sliding into this sentimental foolishness inch by painful inch since the very first day.]

...Or trying to care without trusting. [He inclines his head. That's his own confession to ass-backwards emotional investment in the group.] This is one hell of a mess, but you're right. We've always needed to work together. Even I recognized that.

[After a moment, without fanfare, he offers his empty palm. A handshake.]

Here's to... hands, or whatever.

You don't have to draw attention to how stupid it sounds...

[ She grumbles. But, still, she takes his hand. ]

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bolderfell - 2020-05-19 13:43 (UTC) - Expand

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